By Bobby Ross Jr. My Top 10 bylines of 2011: 10. Funding on the decline for children’s homes across the nation. DUNCAN, S.C. – Southeastern Children’s Home cares for neglected and abused children on a 50-acre campus overlooking the Smoky Mountains. Boys row out in a boat to catch bass and bream in a spring-fed pond. A beekeeper teaches girls how to cultivate honey. The … Continue reading 2011 in review: My Top 10 bylines of the year
FUNDING ON THE DECLINE — Children’s homes: Still a core church ministry? (reporting from Duncan, S.C.). Page 1 lead. DUNCAN, S.C. – Southeastern Children’s Home cares for neglected and abused children on a 50-acre campus overlooking the Smoky Mountains. Boys row out in a boat to catch bass and bream in a spring-fed pond. A beekeeper teaches girls how to cultivate honey. The home’s residents ride … Continue reading With funding on the decline, are children’s homes still a core church ministry?
‘God didn’t do this’: Minister grieves slain wife, son. Page 1. In the midst of unimaginable tragedy, Les Ferguson Jr.’s faith survives. “God didn’t do this,” said Ferguson, preaching minister for the Orange Grove Church of Christ in Gulfport, Miss. “This was just evil.” Even as he clings to God, Ferguson can’t help but weep as he mourns his wife, Karen, and son Cole, 21, who … Continue reading ‘God didn’t do this’: Minister grieves slain wife, son
Healing a wounded town: After a string of suicides, a minister helps bring answers to a small Oregon community (reporting from Alsea, Ore.). Second Front. First Place, Feature Article, Associated Church Press Finalist (part of three-story portfolio), Magazine News Religion Reporting, Religion News Association By Bobby Ross Jr. | The Christian Chronicle ALSEA, Ore. – At the little white church off the two-lane blacktop, the front door … Continue reading Healing a wounded town
The war at home: 10 years later, the legacy of 9/11 (reporting from Camp Lejeune, N.C.). Currents. Finalist (part of three-story portfolio), Magazine News Religion Reporting, Religion News Association By Bobby Ross Jr. | The Christian Chronicle CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. – On a Sunday afternoon, the high-pitched chatter of boys and girls playing fills the home of Marine Staff Sgt. Ahmal Coles and his wife, Whitney. In the … Continue reading The war at home: 10 years later, the legacy of 9/11
Ministry in Mormon country (reporting from Salt Lake City). Page 1 lead. SALT LAKE CITY — To Mormons, the Salt Lake Temple — a magnificent granite structure built in the 1800s — stands as a sacred icon and monument of pioneer faith. For the 14 million adherents worldwide of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Temple Square represents “Jerusalem and Mecca and Shangri-La all … Continue reading Ministry in Mormon country
By Bobby Ross Jr. | The Christian Chronicle WEBB CITY, Mo. — The Joplin tornado’s path of destruction can be seen all along Range Line Road, where a Home Depot, Walmart and other businesses lie in ruins. Yellow “Caution” tape and shreds of wood flutter in the breeze amid bulldozers clearing debris and smashed vehicles abandoned after the May 22 twister that claimed 158 lives and … Continue reading Big storms, bigger hearts in Joplin, Mo.
Future looking brighter for Rochester College in Michigan (reporting from Rochester Hills, Mich.). Page 1. ROCHESTER HILLS, Mich. – Each semester, Rochester College President Rubel Shelly teaches a required freshman course called “Introduction to the Christian Faith.” At a college where less than a quarter of traditional undergraduate students identify with Churches of Christ, the class exposes some 18- and 19-year-olds to the Scriptures for the … Continue reading Future looking brighter for Rochester College in Michigan
‘Dear Lord,’ please help us: In tornado-ravaged South, stories of hope emerge as churches, ministries launch disaster relief efforts (with Jeremy D. Smith, reporting from Tuscaloosa, Ala.). Page 1 lead. TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Moments before a tornado wiped out the Central Church of Christ building, six students huddled in a small cinderblock closet at the church. Carl Naylor started to pray, but he managed just two words … Continue reading In tornado-ravaged South, stories of hope emerge
Faith. Family. Fastballs. 